Someone Brought A Horse On A Plane

Why do you need this by-line? Was there something unclear about the title?!

What you need to know

Just read the headline again.

A lady brought a horse on a plane. It was a small horse. Its name is Flirty and it has an Instagram page with almost 10,000 followers.

Any questions?

Fair enough, this might require some additional explaining.

A lady by the name of Abrea Hensley, hailing from Bellevue Nebraska, has a miniature service horse called Flirty, which has just joined her on an American Airlines flight departing from Chicago O’Hare.

According to the Department of Justice, miniature horses that have been “individually trained to do work or perform tasks for people with disabilities” are the only animal other than dogs that enjoy the same right to fly.

As you can imagine, passengers were pretty surprised to see a horse at the check-in counter. “There was a small horse in line at the airport today and I’m curious about it,” Amberley Baggage tweeted.

Hensley, who suffers from depression, severe anxiety, a panic disorder and PTSD, relies upon the horse to remind her to take her medication, stabilise her when she gets disoriented around crowds and can even alert her when she is becoming too anxious, according to KMTV.

Sadly, not every business is accommodating to Hensley and Flirty. Speaking to KMTV, she has previously been kicked out of businesses twice. “I was treated so poorly and the managers’ responses when I followed up were poor… They are going to be hearing from the Department of Justice and I’m definitely going to be pursuing legal means as well.”

Fortunately, they were welcomed onto the plane by American Airlines. In fact, Hensley later posted a photo on Flirty’s Instagram account of Flirty making friends with the crew members. “They were fantastic and kind and very excited to see Flirty on their flight! Even the pilots had to come out to say hi,” the caption reads.

So far, it’s been a big year for horses. They played a huge role in Lil Nas’s Old Town Road and now they’re even able to fly. Well done, horses!